Art’s 1975ish Gitane

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Art F here I don’t usually give away my secrets but this one is for the good of the bike community and keeps some of the OTS from the scrap metal pile; which, where I live in Montgomery County, MD is posted with sign ” no scavenging ,. punishable by fine or prison”.  These laws were enacted for liability and speed of drop off reasons. So I advise everyone to sign up for Freecycle see http://www.freecycle.org/ I’ve belonged to local groups for about 4 years, and recently responded to a posting that said “2 old 10 speed bikes. Sure they need some work since they haven’t been used in a while. In Olney Mill.”
I responded that I could use them and picked up a nice Gitane and a FreeSpirit Road bike . It was really timely as I’d received an inquiry from a woman about renting a bike for 3 weeks while she was attending a summer course at University of Maryland. The woman was coming in from Nebraska and was a serious biker looking to take long rides. A match was made and I put a kickstand and water bottle on the Gitane, oiled the cables and did a little tweaking. The tires looked almost new with just browning of the sidewalls from age. Obviously it had been kept in  a garage most of it’s life .  It didn’t need much even though it was made around 1975. Interesting features were hard plastic brake lever hoods made to look like leather and brake shoes with smooth posts for tilt adjustment like those used on mountain bikes. Rented it out for $15 and met Julie at the subway station to deliver the bike and locks . It’s not often I get to have someone give a bike a good shakedown rides so I know what it needs before I rent it out again or heaven forbid sell this beauty

Thanks Art

Related posts:

  1. Andrew P’s 1987 Gitane Performance
  2. Art F’s Ladies Huffy Team America
  3. Julie S’s ’74 Fuji Special Road Racer and ’85 Shogun 300
  4. Manny’s 1979 Nishiki International
  5. Peter D’s Huffy All Pro
  • older1

    Not bad for a freecycle, Art!
    As much as I can tell from the photo, it looks like it’s in great shape, especially the amber/red SMRs.
    It always amazes me to see OTSs that survive in such good condition!

  • Art F

    There are so many old ten speeds around in good condition because they just weren’t used much and stored in garages and basements for 30 years. I think a lot of them were bought for teenagers , stopped being used when they went away to college and just left at parent’s homes. Today I’m working on a Schwinm suburban (70s) that had a replacement front tire that still had the flashing down the middle of the tread . I’m replacing the tire because sidewalls are crazed and the tire has probably been on for 25 years and ridden 200 miles.

  • Art F

    There are so many old ten speeds around in good condition because they just weren’t used much and stored in garages and basements for 30 years. I think a lot of them were bought for teenagers , stopped being used when they went away to college and just left at parent’s homes. Today I’m working on a Schwinn suburban (70s) that had a replacement front tire that still had the flashing down the middle of the tread . I’m replacing the tire because sidewalls are crazed and the tire has probably been on for 25 years and ridden 200 miles.